INTERNATIONAL
STORIES

Abuse

Pope defrocks Chilean priest who sexually
abused minors(ABC News) Sept 30 - Pope Francis has defrocked a Chilean priest who was a central
character in the global sex abuse scandal rocking his papacy, invoking his
"supreme" authority to stiffen an earlier sentence because of the
"exceptional amount of damage" the priest's crimes had caused.

Catholic
Church

'We need to change': Pope's pitch to
reconnect with Catholics (Brisbane
Times) Sept 26 - Tallinn, Estonia: Pope Francis acknowledged Tuesday that priestly sex
abuse scandals are outraging the Catholic faithful and driving them away, and
said the church must change its ways if it wants to keep future generations.

POLITICS

Morrison working through religious review (news.com.au) Sept 26 - Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists he's not sitting on a report
into religious freedoms until after a by-election in the Sydney seat of
Wentworth next month.

Rev Fred Nile neglects to disclose company
shares, positions (The Age,
Melbourne) Sept 30 - NSW parliament's longest serving MP and leading morals campaigner,
the Christian Democrat elder Reverend Fred Nile, has failed to properly declare
his business interests and positions in associations for at least 10 years, a
Herald analysis reveals.

Jury still out: Does Scott Morrison love
gays? (Brisbane Times) Sept 30 – (Opinion: Michael Kirby) Following the passage of laws to allow
same-sex marriage in Australia, important opponents of same-sex marriage in the
Federal Parliament called for the enactment of new federal laws (and the
amendment of present laws) to counter “the creeping encroachment from the State
on religious beliefs” and “the use of political correctness to marginalise and
silence the religious perspective” and to respond to a supposed modern
“problem” arising “where religious freedom rubs against laws written to protect
other rights”.